Tag Archives: wordpress

Very recently, I began experiencing very slow load times, latency and hundreds of downtimes and on this blog and on HandmadeCloud both of which run on WordPress and are hosted with MediaTemple. The problems reached critical mass when I received an email from MediaTemple stating that:

Subject – Your Databases Have Been Auto-Scaled

Dear Jessica,
(mt) Media Temple’s automated MySQL monitoring systems have detected an increase in database activity for your Grid-Service (jessicadoyle.com). Your databases are now being served from a MySQL Burst Container to help your web applications scale during this surge in activity. These containers are a component of our MySQL SmartPool v.2 that allows your websites to instantly handle intense, temporary bursts of database activity.

And the email goes on to explain in further detail and ends with a short Q&A.

About an hour before receiving this email I noticed my uptime on Pingdom was awful for HandmadeCloud and then the site wasn’t loading at all. Then the auto-scale email came. I panicked and began frantically watching a customary search that I perform on Twitter to see if other MT customers were being effected with this, began contacting alternative hosts, posted in the MT support forums and opened a support request.

Things hit critical mass when MT suspended my account moments after giving my sites the extra juice they needed to keep going. I was dumbfounded and couldn’t understand how my sites were using so much *GPU when I was only receiving an average 500 to 900 visitors per day to both sites combined and was not bursted back in April 2010 when this blog was featured in an Etsy Finds email on the Etsy blog. During that six day period this blog received a whopping 20,000 visitors and it was not bursted into a container. Continue reading →

I am in the process of unpacking and setting up. I found a wonderful premium WordPress theme named Thesis created by wizard Chris Pearson that will allow me to grow, learn and progress all the while continuing to provide you with stimuli via art creation and the written word. This theme is extensively supported with documentation, user forums and by Chris himself, and it is highly customizable.

As the weeks progress this blog will adapt and change into what I want it to be. There is a learning curve with Thesis, yet the time away from self-hosting did indeed give me a substantial break from all the things that made my head spin in the past. In fact, this year long break allowed precious time to reacquaint myself with creativity via pen, ink and watercolour.

I chose Media Temple as a host. Their support and knowledge base is fantastic. They wrote back to me using words I could understand after writing saying, I could not import my blog due to it’s size. Keep in mind, that I am not a programmer. I am a novice at best and can follow instructions after reading them nine times, trying to do the task twice, having to re-install WordPress thrice… I did learn however, how to edit that damn php.ini file. Media Temple told me which three lines needed to be edited but not the values (the numbers) needed to complete the import. I searched the WordPress codex until I found what was needed. If you don’t know what I’m talking about… don’t worry about, it until you have to transfer 571 posts, 2484 comments, 144 categories and 1407 tags from one blog to another blog.

Mentally, I feel great and up for the challenge of learning again. What a wonderful feeling!

The researching and later, packing began in early November, hrmmm June 2008. You know how it gets when things become crowded and you can’t do what you need to do anymore in order to expand and grow.

You might notice things become a little wonky over the next few days as I migrate to self-hosting WordPress Blogging software again.

I currently blog on WordPress.com, a free blogging platform and forward my domain(s) here. It’s been great! I loved my time here. They were here when my finances ran dry and I could no longer afford to self-host anymore. Well, it’s come full circle and to advance I must move beyond. So thank you WordPress.com for the last year of awesomeness!

Like this:

What I want.

3 columns using the Tarski theme currently activated on this blog with either column on each side of the main posts

The ability to delete the custom header image if I want

The custom header image size increased to the width of the new design

Comments to appear immediately after the post rather than at the bottom of the blog

Tags hidden from each post with only categories showing

The main body where posts are needs to remain 500px wide

An HTML version of the Etsy mini so that I can insert items I have for sale in my shop into my sidebar. The current Etsy mini is only available in Flash or Javascript and WordPress.com allows neither.

If you can do this please leave a comment on this post and I will email you or you can directly email me at: eastvanesica (@) gmail:DOT:.com

What I’ll Do

I will trade art prints for custom WordPress.com CSS to update the look and feel of my blog. I will mail the print(s) directly to you wherever you live in the world. You can see the art prints in my shop. We can discuss the cost of barter privately via email.

Comments on this post will close once I reach an agreement with a CSS designer.

UPDATE

Yes, with the change of seasons comes a change in health. It seems I get struck first by the 24 hour vomit flu and now the going on 96 hour sinus, sore throat, congestion cough cold headache kill me super bug illness. To top it off I have a beautiful blasted cold sore growing on my lower left lip again.

Blogging is like opening up a new pack of crayons at age six. It is an artist’s medium; as Letraset is to Mac, hand journaling is to blogging. This new form of journaling; recording information in real time, has struck a chord with me. The sound of tapping keys makes me happy. I have been creating for nearly 30 years but have not shared much of what I have created, learned, understood and for that matter not understood with anyone save for friends and family. This medium grants me a way to create anew and recreate my past artistic endeavors.

And it still does today!

I do wish I could link to my art shop from within posts every now and then here on WordPress… please?…

…and without fear of being banished!

I am sick.I will get better.I shoulda taken echinacea.I coulda
but
I
didn’t.

Like this:

Funny, all my google referers have disappeared from my stats.
I feel more censored at home than anywhere else on earth.
And I am well.

Ever get to that point where you need to have a good long freaking cry. Just crying for the sake of crying to feel good afterwords. Not unlike laughing hysterically yet you are crying instead.

I am working harder now than I’ve ever worked in my whole life. I am working hard custom picture framing. I am working hard at drawing and painting instead of using drugs. I am writing. I find I am censoring myself. I am finding it hard to believe that I am doing all this.

I find it hard to believe that people can influence me the way they do. I find it hard to believe that I am in charge of this blog. I find it hard to believe that even though Google or WordPress hates me I still get 400+ visitors a day.

I get that urge to go crazy sometimes. Occasionally that hits HARD and I love it!

So I have this Etsy shop. And it’s damn hard to have an Etsy shop. It’s a lot of trial and error. I’m considering opening an X-rated Etsy shop because I can see the other side of the coin. Bling!

A long time ago I wished I could be in on that median. I wanted that happy medium so badly that everyone else had. I got it. I had it good. Now… single for just over one year and living with my parents, in debt up to my yin yang and I’m feeling kind of destitute, yet very creative at the same time. Men just seem to piss me off lately. They are all ogre like. Not all. I’ve met my share of female ogress’s. hahahahahahaha